My Etsy. <3

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Hi there! The last couple days, especially since the reveal of On the Easel (and the amazing Add On, Still Life), the kit for October, I've been obsessed with all things SC. It started with my card the other day and continued today when I made a few layouts to detox from my hectic week. I love Back 40 plus the Fresh Cut add on. So yummy! Here's a layout I made yesterday to share :)

I am in LOVE with the Guest Designer for SC this month- Kinsley Wilson. Seriously, she's amazing. I want to create things as beautiful as she does. Here's a link to her SC layouts for the month and the awesome tutorial that she did for her Sister, Sister layout (can't find the link right now- I'll edit to add it in when I find it). Love! She inspired me to add some circles + stitching to my layout:

I hope that inspired you to pull out the supplies you've been ogling over and use them already! You know you want to! And don't forget to enter my giveaway. I'm drawing for the winner at 10 CST tonight. Off to go unwind from the day and watch some awesome Thursday night tv.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

But really, who isn't? So I guess it's not so much of a problem as it is something fun to love. Yesterday, I realized I hadn't broken out my Studio Calico butterfly stamps that I got in my add-on last month, so I decided to use them on this birthday card for my design friend, Sarah, who turned 21 yesterday. Here's what I did:

Hope you like this cute card and it inspires you to take out and play with your butterfly punches today. You know you have one! (Or two, or three, or four...) Don't forget to enter my giveaway here. I'm drawing a winner tomorrow. :) Have a great day and see you tomorrow for another bit of scrappy goodness.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Welcome back once again for another Monday video tutorial. I'm so excited about the card I've made to share with you today. Today it's all about embossing and making that embossed background really shine.

Here's a close-up of the embossing:

And the inside:

Now watch the video to learn about it :) You can watch it here or over on youtube.

The Links.
Heather P. made this breathtaking card from papertrey products. I love this color combo. Yum!
Maile Belles made this card for a good causeand it's beautiful. That's a double-win in my book.
The Studio Calico blog featured this layout by Sasha Farina the other day. Wow. It makes me realize that I still haven't broken out my September kit with those awesome butterflies yet. I must get on that!
This "A Shabby Hello" card by Tiffany Johnson is amazing. You just have to see it.
Everyone knows that Jill from "inspired by..." is one of the best stampers/cardmakers out there, but this one just blew me away.
Straight up, this card is pure genius from Lisa Spangler. The felt and Lawn Fawn stamps combo is perfect.
Kelly from Lawn Fawn is always coming up with the cutest creations. This one is breathtaking and simple elegance summed up in a card. I need to make a set of these, stat.
I've always admired Joy's cards, but this one is amazing. The coloring is sooo good!

Hope you enjoyed those fantastic creations. If you have anything that's inspiring you today, leave a comment with a link. I always love extra inspiration! All of your comments have be so sweet this week. I love it! Make sure to stop back tomorrow for video tutorial Monday, and don't forget to comment on the giveaway post for a chance to win some goodies.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Hey all! I decided to participate in my second ever PTI blog hop this month, and I'm so excited. Hope over here to the Nichole's blog post to get started hopping! The challenge was to share a technique I've learned from someone else. Here's the card:

The technique I used was one I learned from Jennifer McGuire last weekend. I inked the background heavily with distress inks and then stamped my Polka Dot Basics II with Perfect Pearls mist on it. It makes this awesome, imperfect sparkly resist. I thought it would be a fun contrast to the very serious Autumn Abundance flowers and sentiment. Here's the close-up:

Friday, September 24, 2010

Hi all! In yesterday's post, I mentioned that I would come back with another post with close-ups of the finished projects from the Hero Arts class and Tim Holtz class that I took last weekend at Scrapfest. Here, along with some other pictures from the event, is that recap.

Mario was the fastest tiny attacher-refiller I've ever seen. (Okay, so the only one I've ever seen... but he still was amazing.)

A work in progress.

The final project- distressed, inked, and Tim Holtz-ified.

My overall opinion of the class: Fantastic. Tim is a wonderful teacher and got through the entire project with time to spare at the end. He's wonderfully charismatic and a blast to learn from. I'd take a class from him in a heartbeat! I look forward to adding my photos and journaling to the book. I'm still on the fence of what to make it about. Maybe my family back at home? We'll see.

Next up, it was the Hero Arts Color Your World Cards class. Here's a cute picture that my new friend Linda captured of me during the class:

Class Review: The class was super fast-paced, so I spent about another (leisurely) 45 minutes outside of class cutting things out, tying bows, and adhering them to the card bases, but the work was well worth it. Check out the final products for yourself:

This post is getting quite long, so I'll just have to be back tomorrow with a new card + some inspiration links for ya. Oh, and don't forget to comment on the giveaway post for a chance to win some HA and TH goodies.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Video.
I promised a post talking about scrapfest, and I thought just sharing a video would be a better idea. So here' some of the things I liked and picked up at Scrapfest this last weekend. As always, you can watch the video over at youtube (and make sure you subscribe to my channel to catch my weekly videos)

The Card.
Here's the card I made using a few things that I picked up this weekend:

I did the leaves by stamping them in Brown Memento Ink and then covering them with Ranger Gold paint (my new paint dauber) and Barn Door and Spiced Marmelade distress ink. I love this look!

I did the embossed background by running a piece of kraft cardstock through my big shot with my new Tim Holtz woodgrain texture fade and then going over the raised areas with vintage photo distress ink and more gold paint. Yum.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I wanted to pop in to show you about my favorite part of the weekend- Dinner with the Hero Arts ladies! We met up at the Twin City Grill in the mall on Saturday night and ate some great food, laughed a ton, and got to know each other. Here's our cute group shot at the end of the night:

That's (left to right, starting at the top): Kari, Jen, me, Barb, Shari, Anita, Sarah, Margret, Jen, Carol, Sophie, Liz, Linda, Natasha, Latrice, Anne, Shaune, Shirley, Richele, Marie, and Kate. We had such a fantastic time! I got to meet some really fantastic ladies and was amazed at how nice everyone was. Here are some shots of me and the others:

Me + Barb. She is outrageously nice. I love it! I was so happy to meet one of the famed Hero Arts Hostesses in person. Did you see her day on the HA blog yesterday? You go girl!

Latrice + me. The picture is a little bit at an awkward angle, but I Latrice is so darn photogenic that it doesn't matter. She is such a sweetheart and arranged the whole dinner; that took a ton of work. I can't wait to meet up with her again sometime in the future. :)

Me + Jennifer McGuire. Goodness, she's so funny and sweet! I loved hanging out with her and the Hero Arts crew. There was so much talent in one room. Amazing!

We also decided to do a fall and halloween-themed card swap. I wanted to share the cards that I brought to trade (and Latrice's mom and sister ended up going home with- they were so excited. Ha):

For this card, I inked the background with distress ink, stamped my leaves with clear embossing powder, then ink with some Fired Brick (dark red) distress ink over the top. Then I stamped the Friends Definition stamp over the top, wiped off the embossed areas, and embellished. I love the way this turned out. Here's the close-up:

The gorgeous lace ribbon is from Hero Arts with a little bit of vintage photo distress ink pounced on it to coordinate with the card better.

I did the leaves by putting Distress inks right on to the stamp and them spritzing them with a mixture of Perfect Pearls and water. I love the watercolor effect- next time I'll make sure to spritz them even more.

I hope you enjoyed my little look into this fantastic dinner. I can't wait to do this again next year! Look for a full recap of the Scrapfest event in my next post. :) Trust me, you'll want to stop by for a chance to win. Thanks for stopping by today!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Sorry I've been so absent lately, but school has officially kicked in full gear, and I only had time to craft for the HA Flickr group swap at Scrapfest this weekend. I promise I'll share those cards along with a review of the event here, though. It was an amazing experience this year, including some fanstic classes, make and takes, and meeting some new scrapbooking friends. Love it! Look for that on Thursday. :) HINT: There may be a giveaway involved ;)

So here is week two of my Monday video tutorials. I'm loving this set up right now. I'm still figuring things out with my new camera and the setup around my desk, so bear with me theses upcoming weeks as I find the best camera angle to do this from. It's definitely a huge learning experience- I've never had this much interaction with video before. Once I get something that works for me, I'll make sure to show you around the set up so maybe you can have some beginner hints for your own videos. I'm here to pass on my lessons from trial and error to you :)

Monday, September 13, 2010

Hey there! It's Monday, which means the start of another week of classes, projects, and random conversations with people I know from two years ago. That seems to be the theme around here on campus these days.

Anyways, yesterday I put together my first video tutorial, and I'm hoping to make this a consistent feature here on my blog. I have so many ideas, and I'm ready to start sharing them. :) So here's my first one! Watch it here or over at youtube, and make sure to subscribe to my channel so you can keep getting videos as I make them.

About Me

The little things in life make me smile. I love nothing more than to sit down and relax with some friends. I easily get lost in anything creative like scrapbooking, drawing, painting, knitting, sewing, or cooking. I'm an organizational freak but my floor is always covered with clothes. My friends make me really happy. I really like the moon and the stars. I love the ocean and thinking about all of the great things that have happened there. I like purses and shoes. i enjoy watching hockey and football. I like rooting on the Golden Gophers and Packers. I love taking pictures. I loooove scrapbooking. I like being appreciated and helping other people when they need it.